#like that one stellars sea eagle on the east coast of the US

[hawkpartys]

realized that if you ever wanted to institute an effective mass surveillance network all you'd have to do is get birders on it. they're insanely effective. whenever a notable vagrant bird(one that's extremely out of range) pops up, they have its whereabouts tracked down to the hour, god knows how

[islandadventureswhales]

Anacortes and Port Angeles

Anacortes AM

What a trip full of wildlife! We got to cover a lot of land in order to make it to some reports of the first whales of the day so we decided to head South through the Strait of Juan De Fuca. Along the way we stopped at Bird Rocks and saw a mature bald eagle and a bunch of harbor seals with their pups on the rocks! We made our way towards Hein bank where we got some great looks at a Minke whale. After a while we realized there were multiple Minkes spread out all along the bank so we got to see them as we slowly cruised by making our way out West. We made it just two miles away from race rocks before we spotted our second whale of the day, Scratchy the Humpback whale! Scratchy was doing pretty consistent down times with plenty of flukes and surface activity as well before he mugged the boat! We got to see some great looks at Scratchy and the Island Explorer 4, our sister ship out of Port Angeles as well! We continued out to Race Rocks where we saw more seals, a bald eagle, and stellar sea lions. We had to push pretty far out to see these whales so eventually we had to make a turn and head straight back to the dock! We had a little liquid sunshine along the way but by the time we were back to the dock in Anacortes, the sunshine was out and the rain was gone! It was a long trip filled with quality wildlife viewing time. 

-Clare

      Anacortes PM

This afternoon’s tour started off with some liquid sunshine but cleared up within the first hour of the trip! We made the turn to go through Guemes Channel and eventually turned between Cypress Island and Guemes Island and headed through Bellingham Channel towards Peapod Rocks. On top of Pea Pod rocks we got to see some harbor seals soaking up the sun which had reappeared on top of the rocks. We headed North past Orcas Island to some reports of Killer Whales inbound off of Point Roberts, but along the way got to see a humpback whale! This humpback whale was ID’d as Stitch. We got to see Stitch fluke multiple times and then Mug the boat! We eventually had to depart this humpback and make our way North towards those Orcas. We caught up with them and eventually ID’d one of the pods in the area as the T 101’s and T102. We saw this pod (and many others in the area!) surfacing and traveling back in the direction we came to reach these whales! The skies were blue and the waters were flat calm! It was a beautiful ride back to the dock along Lummi Island and ended with the start of a beautiful sunset.

-Clare

      Port Angeles AM

Lots of clouds today but we got a glimpse of the Olympics before the clouds socked them in. Ambling out of the harbor we came across a lot of harbor seals hauled out on Ediz Hook and some playing in the surf. We headed out  to the north and west and it wasn't long into the trip before we spotted the first two whales mid straits. They seemed to be feeding when we got to them and then they decided to go into a sleeping mode for a bit heading south towards the Elwha River. After a bit they finally woke up enough to show us a few flukes before going back to sleep. With that showing we had Humpbacks BCX1251 Orion and MMX0059 Pilot. We continued across the straits to Vancouver Island and found another humpback but he seemed to be staying down for long periods at a time and coming up far away so we decided to check out Race Rocks. Two bald eagles were acting as sentinels above the harbor seals on the ledges. A large group of steller sea lions were gathered together on two rocks. Plenty of pigeon guillemots  and black oyster catchers were around . We had a call that MMX0079 Scratchy was east of Race Rocks so we had the chance to see another humpback whale and he surfaced fairly close to us before fluking. As we headed back home lots of common murres were starting to be seen along with rhinoceros auklets. Coming into the harbor  we had a chance to get a last look at the harbor seals on Ediz Hook to complete a very satisfying trip.

-Lee

     Port Angeles PM

The evening trip looked like we would escape any rain that might fall in Port Angeles as the clouds were building over the Olympics but we knew the rain shadow would keep us dry. We had a large group of high school students from Pennsylvania with us so we knew this would be a fun trip.We cruised out the harbor watching one of the coast guard helicopters come in for a landing on Ediz Hook. The breeze was brisk but the water calm and we made our way out into the straits heading in a north west direction. We found our first whales of the evening near the Victor Gulf buoy, As we tried to figure out this whales pattern  we saw exhalations of at least 5-6 more whales. A pair of whales came up to the south of us not far off so we decided to go see those two humpback whales. It took a little sleuthing to figure out one of the whales identities as we had never seen this whale before. We had found MMY0078 Fantasia feeding along side another whale who we couldn't ID at this particular time. It is exciting as new humpback whales are coming in and being seen  all the time and we  love sending in the new flukes for identification to the researchers. We received a call about incoming orcas from the west so we continued our journey  to meet them.  They were traveling fast about 9 knots but even so it took awhile to get to them and we were at Otter point in the mid straits before we could see them. They continued past us at their rapid pace and never slowed down until near Sooke. We spent lots of quality time with these transient orcas that turned out to  be the T46's with T'luk the new calf born this year that is an unuusual light gray color. A humpback popped up heading right for the orcas and we thought we might see some interaction but the humpback just disappeared into the depths as the T46's continued their eastbound journey. We eventually peeled ourselves away to start for home and not far off the Elwha River we found BCX1251 Orion one of our favorite humpbacks. He was doing one breath and then fluking dives  so we watched for a bit  until it was time to turn for home.As we entered the harbor, harbor porpoise were playing  inside the harbor, a first for us seeing harbor porpoise in the harbor. What a great way to end the evening.

-Lee

[islandadventureswhales]

Port Angeles

9:30 am

We started the day with a light breeze and sunshine overhead which made for excellent visibility! As we left the harbor, we encountered a large group of harbor seals on the rocky beach near the US coast guard station. Our first stop was the rockpile to look for whales! Before we could make it that far, our naturalist Eagle Eyes Erica (self named ) spotted a blow several miles behind us close to shore! We turned back south and found a humpback whale that is recognizable by a large scar on its back, CS121. We got great looks as the whale sleepily headed east. After this encounter we headed north to race rocks where we saw many stellar and California sea lions and a bunch more harbor seals! Only a mile south of race rocks we could see another blow which turned out to be our humpback friend Frankenstein MMY0009! We got many excellent fluke shots before making our journey south to Port Angeles. However, the saying "the tour isn't over until we're tied back up at the dock" rang especially true today because on our way home, a couple passengers spotted us a BREACHING HUMPBACK CALF in the distance! We made our way over to the incredible show of a mother ("Hydra") and calf. The calf was full of energy and gave us many tail slaps and head lobs before they started heading east and we headed home! 

3:00 pm 

In the afternoon the wind picked up a bit but we were able to visit the harbor seals at the tip of Ediz Hook again, this time with a bald eagle in the mix! We watched as the bald eagle was chased off by a pair of sea gulls! We headed north out of the harbor and near the international border we got one very brief glimpse of the blows of the mother and calf pair who were spotted this morning. However, the fog quickly rolled in and completely enveloped the whales so we lost sight of them. We headed off toward race rocks where we saw many sea lions, seals, and lots of bird life! The fog had cleared along the Vancouver Island coastline so we ran along the shore in search of more whales! With no luck, we headed back to the location of the previous two whales but the fog gave us almost no visibility so after doing a bit more searching, we headed home with a Fluke so everyone gets to come back out on the water with us again!

Anacortes

10:00 AM

Left through Guemes Channel over to pointer island where we spotted several harbor seals hauled out. As we cruised  through thatcher pass, a mature bald eagle was perched on the channel marker. 

We headed through Harney Channel through Pole pass. And just on the west side of Pole pass, we got on scene with some orcas! They were the T46Bs (T46B, T46B1, T46B1A, T46B2, T46B3 and T46B4). They were steadily cruising to the northwest. At one point, they popped up pretty close to the boat, catching us all off guard. They cruised on in a rhythmic breathing sequence. We left to go check out Spieden Island. There were a few turkey vultures soaring among the trees. There were also some fallow deer in the shade of a tree. We caught up with the orcas again as they entered into Spieden channel. We had some more looks before we headed off toward home port. We stopped by James Island on our way home and found some more harbor porpoise. We also checked out the burrows island lighthouse. What a beautiful morning on the water!

3:30 PM

The waters were flat and calm as we headed off the dock! We made our way through the San Juan Islands and headed towards some reports of whales in Canada! We did a nice slow down around Pointer Island and saw some harbor seals. We then made our way towards  Battleship Island where we saw a bald eagle totally devour another bird. It was like National Geographic uncut! We then had the T46B's a few miles out in Canada! These whales were on the hunt and spy hopped twice! The whales did a big change of direction and came RIGHT underneath the boat! It was an incredible sight to see! The evening ended with the start of a beautiful sunset as we made our way back to the dock. 

[islandadventureswhales]

La Conner

This morning we headed north up the channel passing blue herons, belted kingfishers, and even a mature eagle. After that we passed the train bridge and travelled along Padilla Bay. Here we started to see dozens of blue herons and even got a fly-by from an immature eagle. Soon we were truckin through Guemes Channel to Rosario Strait where we got some great news - a group of transient orcas were found near Point Roberts! With that, Captain Tyler decided to go north!  We stopped at Peapod Rocks for some great looks at some harbor seals and then around Point Lawrence and continued toward Canada. As we travelled we continued to see rhinoceros auklets and pigeon guillemots all around us. Just 3 miles south of Point Roberts we joined up with the T37's and T34's!!! It was a great show as the whales were coming high out of the water for each surfacing. Soon it was time to head home and so we headed inner island through pole pass and down through Lopez sound. Passing under Deception Pass on our way to the channel we discovered some more eagles on Seal rock before returning to the dock. It was a phenomenal trip!!!

Port Angeles

AM Tour

The day started cloudy but as we traveled north, the blue skies and sunshine broke through! The waves made the trip a bit of a roller coaster ride, but we had lots of fun! We started the trip by seeing a large group of harbor seals in front of the PA coast guard station on the tip of Ediz hook. We then headed toward the rock pile to do some exploring in search of wildlife. A few miles south of Victoria, we encountered a humpback that we know and love, Stitch! We got excellent looks at this whale before heading to race rocks to see what other wildlife we could find. At race rocks, we enjoyed the view of the historic lighthouse, along with many harbor seals, a large group of stellar sea lions, and a pair of elephant seals! As we headed back south toward Port Angeles, we caught up with another humpback whale with a beautiful white tail. We were able to ID the second whale as MMZ0004. We then cruised home to enjoy the sunshine! PM Tour The waves picked up a bit in the afternoon, giving us quite an adventure! A few seals were still on the tip of Ediz hook but many had gone out swimming and could be seen bobbing in the shallows, doing some people watching! We headed north in search of whales and came across our first humpback east of race rocks! We weren't able to identify this whale so it could possibly be a newcomer to this area! After getting nice looks at the whale, we headed through race rocks and caught up with a mature bald eagle, many harbor seals, and a large group of stellar sea lions play-fighting. As we headed back to the dock, we were surprised by another humpback that surfaced a quarter mile in front of the boat! The whale was doing shallow dives and we got a few great looks and one glimpse at the tail before heading home! 

Anacortes  AM Tour We had reports of pretty "nautical" weather to the southwest, so we were beyond thrilled when just before leaving the dock, a report of orcas to the north came in!  We knew it would be a long haul, but fortunately the whales were heading in our direction!  We cruised up Bellingham Channel, stopping near the Cone Islands where we saw a few mature bald eagles.  More eagles as well as black oystercatchers, black turnstones, and harbor seals awaited us at Peapod Rock.  From there, we continued north around Orcas Island, passing Barnes and Clark, Matia, Sucia, and Patos before meeting up with some transient orcas!  This appeared to be a few different families, including the T37A's.  When we first arrived on scene, they were just celebrating after a kill.  After watching them share the spoils for quite a while, they entered into a close travel pattern.  We eventually bid them farewell and headed home, making a rare stop into Echo Bay and explored the channel between South Finger Island and Sucia, checking out another mature bald eagle and great looks at the bull kelp flats.    PM Tour Sunny and calm all day. Westbound through Thatcher Pass. Headed north up Rosario Strait. Stopped by Peapod Rocks and found harbor seals hauled out, a bald eagle perched on the rocks and some black oystercatchers along the shoreline. Continued north through Barnes and Clark islands. Stopped by Ewing Island and spotted two bald eagles, one mature and one immature. At Clements Reef, there were several harbor seals hauled out. All the way to Canada, we found orcas! It was T37, T37Bs, and T34s. T37 and T34s continued north in the Strait of Georgia. T37Bs headed into the shoreline of Tumbo Island. They headed right to the shoreline and it looked like they were about to hunt… Then they swarmed the rocks where several harbor seals were hauled out. It looked like one of them was in for a very bad day. The orcas hunted on the back side of the rocks and then they continued north along Saturna island. They gave us a nice flyby as we had to head home. Cruised home with beautiful sunshine and flat calm waters.